In 1973, Jonathan Cape Ltd published a children's book called "The Butterfly Ball and Grasshopper's Feast". The book then prompted this jubilant live production of The Butterfly Ball that took place at the Royal Albert Hal... more &raquol on October 16, 1975. This performance, magically narrated by Vincent Price, was a benefit for Bud Flanagan's Leukemia Fund and Action Research for the Crippled Child. Roger Glover, who recently departed from Deep Purple was able to get most of the artists who had taken part in the studio recordings to perform. Featuring: Ian Gillan, Twiggy, Tony Ashton, Helen Chapelle, David Coverdale, John Gustafson, Eddie Hardin, Glenn Hughes, Earl Jordan and more.&laquo less

Similar Movies

Movie Reviews

A mixed bag, but worth a look.

Metaljim | Kansas USA | 03/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When Roger Glover recorded the original Butterfly Ball album, it was intended to be the soundtrack for a proposed movie. It is a superb record, with a wide variety of musical styles to match the various characters. When he got the opportunity to stage it as a one-off concert for a children's benefit, he was able to get most of the original participants to take part. As a concert, the entire show is a success. The band consisting of Les Binks-drums (later to join Judas Priest), Mo Foster-bass (future Jeff Beck sideman), and Ray Fenwick-guitar (soon to be Ian Gillan's axe-man)were aided by Eddie Jobson-violin (Roxy Music/UK/Jethro Tull), Purple's Jon Lord on organ and others. All the concert footage is a sheer delight to watch and it must have been the event of a lifetime. However, left to their own devices, the producers butchered the concert footage by splicing in skits with actors dressed as animals, ballet sequences and combat footage. It's difficult to watch what started as an event get turned into a psychedelic fantasy gone bad. The non musical clips are far beyond annoying, almost to the point of nausea. For many years Roger has stated he was embarrassed beyond belief when he attended the world premier at a theater in London. Until you actually see this movie you won't be able to understand why. It's too bad they couldn't have put a little effort into this DVD and given the viewer the option to watch the movie version or just the concert. The highlight has to be the long jam on Watch Out For The Bat, sung by John Gustafson (ex-Roxy Music, Quatermass and soon to be Ian Gillan's bassist). What started out on the album as a two minute rocker is transformed into a seven+ minute jam, with an extended guitar/violin workout. Jobson and Fenwick turn in stellar performances throughout the show, but this is the best chance for them to step out and display their talents. My 4 star rating is strictly for the musical portion of this show. As a "movie", it wouldn't get any stars. Purchase at your own risk, you have been warned."

Rogers ED-WOOD-Experience

Norman Weichselbaum | Gablitz Österreich | 04/22/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First of all - i?ve always been a fan of BB, and i remember the TV-broadcasting back in the 7oies. But what we have here on DVD is simply ... incredible. The scenes edited in the concert are stuff that might become cult one day. Like Ed Wood Mr. Tom Klinger is the perfect candidate for "Rotten Tomatoes" ;-)The costumes ... the surrounding (a foggy afternoon - should not butterfly ball be a colourful event?) ... the DVD-compression (more particles than picts). Poor Rog. I just wonder that Roger did have no opinion to stop this. Even the live-shots on stage are more than bad. Unsharp, dark, and mostly showing exactly the guys who are not on the spot. And to be honest: Even the musical performance is not stunning. Singers flat or high, forgetting lyrics ... compared to the studio recording this is really poor.

Rog, if you ever read this: BB live has not been that bad like the DVD suggests. Please grab out the originial 16mm-movies from the concert and edit them for a "director?s cut". If you need help, i would be glad to do colour correction, compression, remixing ... but don?t let it be the way it is.kind regards to all BB-fansnorman - weichselbaum@operator.at"

A Visual Feast

Melinda | Sydney Australia | 02/15/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having only known the filmclip of "Love Is All" by Ronnie James Dio from my youth, it was interesting to finally have the chance to watch the whole experience.

Well worth seeing as it is a visual feast, and very cleverly done."

One of the funniest and most entertaining concerts I have ev

LeBronze James Dio | Toledo, OH (USA) | 03/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Roger Glover and an all star cast of 70's heavy metal stars put on a concert to promote Glover's Butterfly Ball album. Vincent Price does narration straight out of the book of the same name. Glenn Hughes (Dave Mustaine's twin) opens the concert with Get Ready. Look for David Coverdale singing on Behind the Smile (you won't recognize him). Concert scenes are interspersed with scenes of people dressed up like some of the characters they are singing about like Old Blind Mole and Froggy. The sketches are so terrible they are hilarious. The only real let down for me was the fact that Ronnie James Dio was not able to attend due to his involvement with Rainbow. Ian Gillan (Deep Purple's second singer) took over vocals for him on Sitting in a Dream. Twiggy (the famous model) sang Homeward in place of Ronnie as the closing number. Watch Out for the Bat turns into a long jam session. The violinist on the song uses a very unique hollow body violin that looks as if it was made out of glass. His solo is the centerpiece of the song. Tony Ashton's antics on Together Again are hysterical. As bad as everybody involved with this think it is, it still is worth watching."